Day One with Andre Norman Day One with Andre Norman

Kareemah had two Day Ones: the first one took place when she entered the juvenile system at 15 and the second occurred when she entered the Georgia penal system at 18. Facing two life sentences, she was told she would never be released so she made the best of her situation by serving her peers as a tutor. Paroled after 26 years, Kareemah now owns her own salon using the skills she gained from the cosmetology education she completed while incarcerated.

“Every goal I wrote down while incarcerated has come to fruition.”

Idris graduated from college, succeeded in real estate, and was blessed with a wife and two children. Unfortunately, he made some unwise business decisions along the way and served 3.5 years in a minimum-security work release program. During his incarceration, he helped a record number of his peers earn their GED , read voraciously, and prepared relentlessly for a successful re-entry.

“If you’re strategic, driven, and focused, there’s nothing you can’t do.”

Addicted to meth at 17, arrested for the first time at 18, and sent to a maximum-security federal prison in her early 20s, Jennifer eventually turned her life around and went from pitiful to prosperous. She is the founder of the National Association of Women’s Prison Reform whose mission is “to help women being released from prison reach the Top 1% and establish a sustainable income.”

“The same government body that put me in prison now pays me to tell my story.” 

On Day One in prison Keidrain said he was “dumb, naïve, confused, and scared.” But that changed when he decided to step away from bad influences and prison politics. Determined to leave on a high note, Keidrain spent the last five years of his sentence taking classes like cognitive intervention, life skills, politics, history, science, and different cultures. Today, he is a successful business owner, activist, husband, and father.

“There are a million ways to make money today without committing a crime.”

Antong is an activist, author, master educator, and trainer who works with the prison population. As a young boy, he flourished in the talented and gifted program at school but because he lived in a violent neighborhood, he joined a gang and eventually ended up in prison. On his first day behind bars, he felt like he had failed at life, so he started making positive changes. He took advantage of every educational opportunity and read 1,000 books before he was released.

“Look at your challenges as part of the struggle so you don’t shrink to it.“

“Devastating and unbelievable.” That’s how Stephanie, a preacher and motivational speaker, felt when she got the call that her son committed murder. And sadly, she recently lost her brother, DMX, who passed away from a drug-related heart attack. These events made Stephanie realize that family and friends of the incarcerated also experience their own Day One, where their lives are changed forever.

“No matter what you’ve dealt with, you can still be made whole.”